I want to walk you through a deal where I did not buy the house — I assigned the contract to another investor — and where the seller knew that from the first conversation and was completely fine with it. I am Grant Howard with Howard Buys, and this was a duplex in Charlestown, Indiana.
A project that got put on the back burner
The owner was an investor. As I understand it he had picked this duplex up as part of a package deal from another investor, which is a common enough way to end up owning something you did not individually pick.
Then it sat. Not out of neglect — it just was not his priority. Other things came up, he got busy, and this one kept sliding down the list. Anyone who owns more than one property knows that feeling.
Two things eventually forced the issue. The project was a lot of work, more than he wanted to take on. And he needed the money out of it. Once both of those are true, a quick sale beats a good intention every time.
I told him exactly what I was going to do
Here is the part I care about.
I was upfront with him from the start that I intended to wholesale it — to put it under contract and assign that contract to a cash investor who would take it as-is, off-market. I told him what the assignment fee was and what it would look like.
He understood completely. He is an investor; this is a structure he already knew. He also understood the risks that come with it — chiefly that an assignment depends on a buyer being found, and that is a genuine difference from selling to someone who is definitely closing with their own money.
He weighed it and said yes, because the number worked for him and speed mattered more than structure.
That is what a wholesale deal is supposed to look like: the seller knows what is happening, knows what I make, knows the risk, and agrees anyway. The problem with this part of the business is never the assignment. It is when somebody is not told.
What actually happened
We got him the price he needed and felt good about. We sold it off-market to a cash investor who bought it as-is, exactly as planned.
That buyer fixed it up and put it back to work as a duplex — two more units in Charlestown occupied instead of one more building sitting empty and deteriorating. The seller got out from under a project he did not want. The buyer got a property that suited what he does. Nobody had to pretend anything.
If you own something that has become a back-burner project
Ask me directly whether I am buying or assigning. You will get a straight answer either way, and you should ask that of anyone who makes you an offer.
Ask what the fee is. If someone will not tell you what they are making, that is worth noticing.
Ask what happens if a buyer is not found. That is the real risk in an assignment, and you deserve to hear it named out loud rather than discover it late.
Decide on the number and the certainty. Those are the two things that actually affect you. Structure only matters to the degree it changes those.
If this sounds like where you are
A rental or duplex you are done with — occupied or empty.
A property outside your footprint that never gets your Saturday.
A rehab that turned out bigger than you wanted to take on.
Something sitting empty while you decide what to do with it.
How this works
I buy houses across Southern Indiana and the Louisville area, and where I am not the end buyer I will tell you that up front. No commissions, no repairs, no cleanout. You can see exactly how I calculate an offer, and I have written about another deal where the buyer turned out to be one of my contractors.
If you have a project you are ready to hand to somebody else, call or text me at (502) 414-8334. Tell me the address and what you need for it, and I will tell you honestly what I can do and how.